Bill Pennington, a veteran sportswriter, was launched. Mark Viera, a freelancer who had done much work for us over the years and who had attended Penn State and knew the players and the landscape, was sent. Pete Thamel, in Tuscaloosa, Ala., for the college football game of the year between LSU and Alabama, got an early flight to Harrisburg for Sunday morning. And Nate Schweber, one of the most intrepid and brave freelancers, was in his car. I had used Nate on any number of stories when I was Metro editor, from the serial killings of prostitutes in Atlantic City to the attempted subway terror attack of 2009. He’ll go anywhere, ask anything, and almost always come back with the goods.

One of my personal projects this year, I’ve decided, is to try to help — whether they want it or not — the Times,” he told me early in 2010. “I think it’s important for the country for them to figure it out.

But he rolled his eyes at the governor’s depiction of a “war on the Scouts” being waged by atheists and “activist homosexuals.” “I think there are a lot of good men who can’t be scoutmasters because they are gay,” Mr. Overton said, adding that he would not vote for Mr. Perry for president despite their personal ties.

Schmidle, meanwhile, says he’s received positive feedback from his sources and others familiar with the raid since the article was published. Among the satisfied customers: Schmidle’s father, Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Robert E. Schmidle Jr., the deputy commander of the U.S. Cyber Command. “He knew I was working on it,” the younger Schmidle says, “but we both decided it was best not to discuss it in advance. We wanted to maintain distinct lines of operation.

As he was talking, a young admirer approached him. “I’m sorry, no,” Mr. Lehmkuhl said, cutting him off. “I’m having an interview with The New York Times. Can you just leave me alone?

I have been unwilling, for years, to be in a long-term relationship because I never wanted anyone to get too close and ask too many questions.